Wednesday, August 17, 2016

PCG Minimizing the Violence of Apartheid (2013)

After the death of Nelson Mandela, the man who did so much to bring to
an end the racist system of Apartheid which had kept the black
majority trodden underfoot, PCG made an article discussing those who try to imitate the boycott against Apartheid South Africa by calling for a boycott of the State of Israel. (Callum Wood,
Sanctioning Israel: the Next South Africa?, December 17, 2013.)

Here is what this article has to say about Apartheid forcing the black majority to be lorded over by a numerically small white minority.

Apartheid officially became law in South Africa in 1948. Unrest flared
up in the 1950s, but the idea of sanctions hadn’t started to take hold.
In 1962, the UN called on members to “separately or collectively” break
diplomatic relations with South Africa and begin trade embargoes.
Multiple trade and arms embargoes ensued, including Resolution 181,
which saw—with U.S. approval—the cessation of arms shipments to South
Africa from Europe. This law became mandatory in 1977,largely as a
result of the heavy-handed crackdown on protesters by police.

Wood writes of "the heavy-handed crackdown on
protesters by police" within Apartheid South Africa. What a sanitized way Wood describes the deadly
repression Apartheid caused.

Astonishingly Wood makes makes no mention in this article of how about 176 people were
killed in 1976 during the Soweto uprising by the Apartheid regime's attempts to repress protests in Soweto
by people who yearned to free from Apartheid. Somehow such frightful bloodshed is casually ignored in this article.

Also what about the widespread racial discrimination that the black majority were forced to endure? While so much of the world moved away from racial discrimination Apartheid South Africa insisted on imposing various racist measures against the black majority. Such racial discrimination was reason enough to sanction the Apartheid regime even if the mass killing in Soweto in 1976 had never occurred.

It is shocking that Wood and the editors of PCG should dare to ignore the racist oppression that the black majority in South Africa were forced to endure for so long. No mention is made in this article of the deadly violence that the Apartheid regime unleashed against the black majority to impose white supremacy.

If PCG's leaders should treat the violence of Apartheid in South Africa in such a way it should be no surprise that PCG's leaders today choose to harden their hearts at the African American protesters who protest alongside allies from the white majority against police violence and who yearn to live without fear of violence at the hands of those who are supposed to protect them.

If PCG's leaders can minimize the killing of 176 people in the Soweto uprising of 1976 as merely a "heavy-handed crackdown on protesters by police" then PCG's leaders will choose to harden their hearts at the current problem of African Americans enduring police brutality.

It is shameful that PCG's leaders should dare to minimize the horrors of such a racist system as Apartheid in this article. It is a terrible wrong against those who were victimized by that racist regime for so many years.

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Hand in Hand for Syria

Keep Somalia's Remittances Open

I encourage readers to sign this petition from Oxfam calling upon the U.S. government to let the Somali diaspora continue to send remittance to their loved ones in Somalia.

Moves have been made to shut down such remittances from Somalis in America. Many Somalis need these remittances. The remittances to Somalia are larger than foreign aid contributions and are a lifeline to these people caught in trouble and turmoil.

It is true that HWA said that some Eastern European states would break away from Moscow's orbit and join the European Empire he said would arise at any moment. But he never talked of the Soviet Union collapsing. He did not teach that. Also he portrayed the rise of the European Empire to be far quicker then what has actually happened. In Mystery of the Ages Christ was supposed to return by 2005 at the most.

So assertions that the fall of the Berlin Wall somehow prove that HWA was right is just complete nonsense spread by people who, for whatever reason, are still in denial that HWA was a false prophet who merely talked out of his own "human reasoning".

Truth about Roderick C. Meredith

What sort of man is he? A man who could say things like this.

"Mr. Armstrong has reminded us again that we are to disfellowship any members who attend GTA's [Garner Ted Armstrong's] campaigns, church services or other meetings. Some of our weaker members apparently do not realize that this man is in direct rebellion against God and His government! We must not allow them, or ourselves, to rationalize about this matter, to try to "help the underdog," or in any other way lend support to one whose gross immorality, whose long standing "play acting" and hypocrisy, and whose direct insubordination to the Government of God has long been and is now a source of confusion and DIVISION among God's people. So, as per Mr. Armstrong's instruction, I charge and exhort every one of you faithful ministers of the living Christ to explain this in no uncertain terms to your members, to warn them about this cause of division and then to disfellowship any who consort with GTA or any of his fellows." (Roderick C. Meredith, Pastor's Report, May 21, 1979, pp. 1-2.)

David Robinson on Roderick C. Meredith

"During the ten years I have been an employee of the Worldwide Church, you have been poorly spoken of by most of the ministers and employees I have known. I vividly remember the absolute unbounded glee that was openly expressed by a good number of respected men in the church when you were first "shanghaied." [In 1972.] I could begin by naming names, which I am sure would shock you. I was one of the few who stood, where possible, for you. Your tenure as superintendent of ministers, as I believe the office was then called, was looked on as nightmarish. While you held office during the years of growth, most of those whom I know gave you very little credit for that growth. Almost everyone whom I know, whether they be former friends of yours, or continuing foes, recalls insensitive and terrible things you have done. Without exception, at least among my acquaintances, they all credit you with an unbridled lust for power and list you as one who is willing to pay the price of gaining that power, no matter what. I have, through many of the last few years, believed you had principles you would not violate. Many a man of experience in the church assured me of my error. Events have proven me wrong and them right. Mr. Armstrong has himself been widely quoted as saying of you that you were so righteous that you were so "righteous you were unrighteous." " (David Robinson, Herbert Armstrong's Tangled Web, Chapter 16, p. 207.)

Of course it is impossible for me to personally verify these assertions but people deserve to know what this knowledgeable man had to say about him.